Power actuated guns are used in many industrial applications, and particularly construction applications. A power actuated gun is often used to drive a fastener into a relatively hard substrate, such as concrete. The power actuated gun is typically powered by an explosive charge.
Often, with power actuated guns, a fastener is used having a nail frictionally retained in a shaped washer or plate, often called a fastener assembly. Often, an angled plate having a hole therein is used so that a wire or other device can be fastened thereto. One such fastener assembly is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,736,923 entitled “Fastener Assembly”, issued to Also Loss on Apr. 12, 1988. U.S. Pat. No. 4,736,923 is incorporated herein by reference.
Fastener assemblies having a nail frictionally retained in a washer or plate are generally available loosely packed. With most power actuated guns driving fastener assemblies of this type, the fastener assemblies are placed into the barrel of the gun individually by hand. This can be time consuming.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,273,316 and 6,481,611, also granted to Alfonso Losada, teach a fastener feeding track and system for automatically feeding fastener assemblies having a nail frictionally retained in a washer or plate into the barrel of the power actuated gun. U.S. Pat. No. 6,273,316, granted to Alfonso Losada, on Aug. 14, 2001, is incorporated herein by reference.
The use of fastener feeding systems is especially helpful for driving fasteners into ceilings areas that are hard to reach from the ground or floor. In use, the fastener assembly is placed within or partially within the barrel of the power actuated gun and placed adjacent the surface into which the nail of the fastener assembly will be driven. The surface is generally a hard surface which requires the use of the power actuated gun. The power actuated gun is then fired, driving the stud or nail into the hard surface. The fastener feeding system then loads another fastener assembly into the barrel or at least partially into the barrel so that it is ready for firing.
For ceiling applications, the power actuated gun is often placed on a pole with a fastener assembly received within or partially within the bore of the barrel of the gun and the whole device is raised to the ceiling with a pole. When the fastener assembly lies adjacent and in contact with the ceiling where it is to be driven the gun is fired and the nail or stud of the fastener assembly is driven. Because the power actuated gun is placed on a pole, this means it is often removed from the reach of the operator. Because the power actuated gun will be raised on a pole above the operator, it is important that fastener feeding track be securely attached to the power actuated gun without interfering with the operation of the gun, and that the fastener feeding assembly work efficiently without jamming.
The present invention teaches means for securing a fastener feeding track to a power actuated gun. A number of other systems have been devised by the inventor of the present invention for improving the fastener assemblies used with power actuated guns, the operation of automatically loading fastener assemblies into the barrel of a power actuated gun and the firing the gun. Some of these inventions are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/729,389, filed Dec. 4, 2000, by Alfonso Losada, entitled “Power Actuated Fastener System”, which is herein incorporated by reference. Some of these inventions are also described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/043,669, filed Jan. 11, 2002, entitled “Fastener Assembly having Grooves for use with a Power Actuated Gun”, filed by Alfonso Losada, which is herein incorporated by reference.
The present invention also teaches an improved fastener feeding track that is less likely to jam when used with certain fastener assemblies.
The present invention aims to increase worker productivity, allowing workers to install more fastener assemblies in a a safe and accurate manner. Worker productivity is a key economic factor in the construction industry where labor is a larger portion of the cost of any structure, and labor costs continue to rise.